No extradition agreement exists between Yemen and Britain or Norway and Mr Magnussen has campaigned for the UK and Norwegian governments to maintain international diplomatic pressure on their Yemeni counterparts to hand Abdulhak over for trial.

Mr Magnussen wrote to the Queen asking her for her support, stating: "The lack of an extradition treaty between Yemen and the UK prevents justice prevailing.

"The only acceptable solution is a fair trial in this country. In a situation of continued stalemate it would be most appreciated if Her Majesty The Queen could assist in anyway possible to progress matters."

Replying on her behalf, Doug King, assistant private secretary to the Queen, wrote: "Her Majesty was deeply sorry to read of the terrible loss that you and your family have suffered, and the continuing distress caused by the fact that your daughter's killer remains at liberty.

"She has asked me to convey her sincerest condolences to you and your family.

"With regard to your request for Mr Farouk Abdulhak to be extradited from Yemen to the UK to stand trial, I'm afraid that this is not a matter on which Her Majesty can personally intervene.

"However she has asked me to refer the matter to the Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, whose department is responsible for government extradition policy and who I hope will be able to advise you further."

Mr Magnussen said: "It was a very supportive message. The Queen must receive many letters like mine, so I was tremendously pleased she wrote such a specific and supportive response.

"She has obviously thought carefully about the issue of Martine's murder.

"The Queen has a tremendous reputation not only in Norway but around the world and for her to share her thoughts like this is very encouraging for me and my campaign to see that Martine's killer is brought to trail."

Martine's body was found half buried in rubble in the basement of Abdulhak's flat in Great Portland Street, central London, on March 16, 2008

The 23-year-old had been raped and strangled two days earlier, after going home with Abdulhak following a night out in Mayfair with friends.

Both studied at Regent's Park College, where Martine had recently come top of her class.

Within hours of her death Abdulhak fled Britain, using his father's private jet to travel first to Cairo and on to Yemen.

Abdulhak's father, Shaher, is one of the richest men in the country, running a string of businesses and enjoying close links with the ruling elite. He is suspected of sheltering his son behind the high walls of the family home in the capital, San'a.

Scotland Yard issued an international wanted notice for Abdulhak when discussions between Britain and Yemen to extradite him stalled.

It was hoped Mr Abdulhak Snr, whose business interests include oil, tourism, property and the licence to produce Pepsi in Yemen, would pressure his son to hand himself over voluntarily.

But he denied all knowledge of Farouk's whereabouts, despite the family's lawyer, Mohammad Mahdi Baqwli, admitting to a Norwegian TV documentary team that the son was staying at the family home and studying Arabic at the nearby university.

It is thought that at one stage Abdulhak even visited his mother in Syria, before being expelled for travelling under a false ID.

Members of the Abdulhak family were spotted in the French ski-resort of Courchevel last Christmas, though Farouk was not thought to have been with the party.

Mr Magnussen is expected to seek an early meeting with the Home Secretary, once arrangements for the new government have been resolved, in order to press for renewed efforts to bring Abdulhak to trial.

Mr Magnussen is planning to return to Britain in the summer to plant a tree at Regent's College in his daughter's memory and continue his fight for justice.

The photograph of Abdulhak posing with a handgun is understood to have been taken by him only a few days before Martine's death.

He then sent it to Martine by email. It was later circulated among her friends. Detectives from Scotland Yard discovered the photograph after examining computer equipment in connection with the murder.

It is not clear whether the handgun Abdulhak is brandishing is a real or a replica firearm. He appears to have taken the picture on a webcam while sitting at a computer. On the wall behind him are family photographs and what appear to be children's drawings.

The respected international peace campaigner and human rights activist, former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik is now working behind the scenes in a bid to secure Abdulhak's extradition.

He is understood to be using the auspices of his Oslo Peace Centre for Human Rights to open channels of communication with those close to the Yemen government.

He said: "We want justice for Martine. We have great sympathy with the hopeless situation her family have found themselves in. When they contacted me and Oslo Peace Centre, we did not hesitate in agreeing to assist in any way we could."